PRESENTATION: Survival in the 21st Century

Andrea Bowers: Deep Green, 2023, Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Kunning Huang, Copyright: Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Kunning HuangThe exhibition project “Survival in the 21st Century” explores the fundamentals of life in the age of poly-crisis. The exhibition, developed by Georg Diez and Nicolaus Schafhausen in close coordination with the Deichtorhallen, incorporates fundamental questions of ecology, technology, and spirituality. The School of Survival will augment the works by some forty international artists featured in the exhibition and transform the museum into a learning space for the future.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Deichtorhallen Hamburg Archive

The exhibition “Survival in the 21st Century” focuses on the basic questions of human existence and reflects on the radical changes ahead: climate change, the digital revolution, increasing injustice on national and global scales, democracy in crisis, and the necessity of community. This elaborate exhibition, featuring numerous multimedia installations and an exhibition architecture designed by the office of Bundschuh Architects, demonstrates how cultural survival needs new cultural practices. In a radically complex world, fundamental questions are posed differently and anew: How can we rethink the economy, build, live, and eat differently, use technology for humanity in new ways, learn from non-Western societies, organize human and non-human coexistence differently, turn ecology into a comprehensive discipline, and transform our democratic processes and institutions to be more transparent, direct, and democratic? The exhibition aims to present possible worlds beyond artistic practice. It offers the wider public an opportunity to learn together and from each other, as a constructive public, through workshops, lectures, and the continuous educational programming of the School of Survival. The museum will become a school for the new century, embracing the transformation of education and learning as essential. Art is the medium; survival is the goal. The “School Of Survival” is a future laboratory within the exhibition “Survival in the 21st Century” and its most important communication tool. Interactive events take place almost every day in around 100 lectures, seminars, and workshops. Visitors have the opportunity to develop concrete approaches and cultural techniques – strategies to actively respond to the challenges of the future. “School Of Survival” encourages visitors to question their own and society’s certainties. We have to learn – but above all, unlearn and learn new and differently. What knowledge do we need for the 21st century? The range of topics covers seven key areas: Democracy & Politics, Society & Community, Food & Cooking, Art & Culture, Learning & Unlearning, Environment & Sustainability, Science & Technology.The “School Of Survival” offers two different teaching formats: afternoon classes, four units each over four weeks, in subjects such as planetary thinking, meditation, biographical writing, foraging, empathic democracy. There will also be workshops on the weekends that enable an in-depth look at these and similar topics – from a new language of democracy to Chinese philosophy to new economic thinking. Both formats are designed for young people and adults. The aim is to develop a personal understanding of the issues interactively and to develop and implement exemplary solutions using methods, tools, and techniques. The “School Of Survival” also offers 90-, 120- and 180-minute workshops during the week especially for youth groups and school classes. Under the guidance of interdisciplinary art educators from the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, young people immerse themselves in interactive learning experiences that deal with the central themes of the exhibition. The workshops take place in the mornings during the exhibition period and can only be booked through the Museumsdienst Hamburg from May 18th.

Participating Artists: Panteha Abareshi, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Yalda Afsah, Abbas Akhavan, Assemble & AAU Anastas, Mohamed Bourouissa, Andrea Bowers, James Bridle, Julian Charrière, Sam Chermayeff Office, Edith Dekyndt, Simon Denny, Cao Fei, Liam Gillick, Lubaina Himid, Kablusiak, Leon Kahane, Paul Kolling, Sharon Lockhart, Goshka Macuga, Taus Makhacheva, Jota Mombaça, Shaun Motsi, New Red Order (NRO), Olaf Nicolai, Christelle Oyiri, Céline Pagès, Trevor Paglen, Grayson Perry, Shlomo Pozner, Bruno Serralongue, Jeremy Shaw, Charles Stankievech, Thomas Struth, Ron Terada, Emmanuel Van der Auwera, Syrus Marcus Ware.

Photo: Andrea Bowers: Deep Green, 2023, Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Kunning Huang, Copyright: Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Kunning Huang

Info: Curators: Georg Diez and Nicolaus Schafhausen. Assistant Curators: Lena Baumgartner and Frances Fürst, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Deichtorstr. 1–2, Hamburg, Germany, Duration: 18/5-5/11/2024, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.deichtorhallen.de/

Left: Thomas Struth, ALICE, CERN, Saint Genis-Pouilly, 2019, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin, Paris, London, Copyright: Courtesy the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin, Paris, LondonRight: Trevor Paglen, Unknown 87991, 2023, © Trevor Paglen, courtesy the artist, Copyright: © Trevor Paglen, courtesy the artist
Left: Thomas Struth, ALICE, CERN, Saint Genis-Pouilly, 2019, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin, Paris, London, Copyright: Courtesy the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin, Paris, London
Right: Trevor Paglen, Unknown 87991, 2023, © Trevor Paglen, courtesy the artist

 

 

Charles Stankievech, Desert Turned to Glass, 2012/2023, Courtesy the artist. Copyright: Courtesy the artist
Charles Stankievech, Desert Turned to Glass, 2012/2023, Courtesy the artist. Copyright: Courtesy the artist

 

 

Cao Fei: Asia One, Videostill, 2018, © Cao Fei, 2024, courtesy Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers, Copyright: © Caro Fai, Courtesy of Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers
Cao Fei: Asia One, Videostill, 2018, © Cao Fei, 2024, courtesy Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers, Copyright: © Caro Fai, Courtesy of Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers

 

 

Abbas Akhavan, curtain call, variations on a folly (2021– ), Installation view at Copenhagen Contemporary (2023),Photo: David Stjernholm,Copyright: the artist. Photo: David Stjernholm
Abbas Akhavan, curtain call, variations on a folly (2021– ), Installation view at Copenhagen Contemporary (2023),Photo: David Stjernholm,Copyright: the artist. Photo: David Stjernholm

 

 

Edith Dekyndt. Underground (LeVal St Germain), 2022, Installation view „Aria of Inertia“, Kering, Chapelle Laennec, Paris, septembre 2022 – juillet 2023, Photo: Tiago Paes. Courtesy the artist and Konrad Fischer Galerie, Copyright: Photo: Tiago Paes. Courtesy the artist and Konrad Fischer Galerie
Edith Dekyndt. Underground (LeVal St Germain), 2022, Installation view „Aria of Inertia“, Kering, Chapelle Laennec, Paris, septembre 2022 – juillet 2023, Photo: Tiago Paes. Courtesy the artist and Konrad Fischer Galerie, Copyright: Photo: Tiago Paes. Courtesy the artist and Konrad Fischer Galerie

 

 

Goshka Macuga, Who Gave Us a Sponge to Erase the Horizon?, 2022, woven tapestry 290 x 460 cm, Courtesy of Goshka Macuga, Copyright: Courtesy of Goshka Macuga
Goshka Macuga, Who Gave Us a Sponge to Erase the Horizon?, 2022, woven tapestry 290 x 460 cm, Courtesy of Goshka Macuga, Copyright: Courtesy of Goshka Macuga

 

 

Yalda Afsah, Videourle (Filmstill), 2019, © Yalda Afsah, Copyright: © Yalda Afsah
Yalda Afsah, Videourle (Filmstill), 2019, © Yalda Afsah, Copyright: © Yalda Afsah

 

 

Taus Makhacheva, Tightrope Walker (Videostill), 2015, © Courtesy the artist, Copyright: © Courtesy the artist
Taus Makhacheva, Tightrope Walker (Videostill), 2015, © Courtesy the artist, Copyright: © Courtesy the artist

 

 

Paul Kolling. Westbound-190621 (panel 1, 3 and 5), Courtesy the artist, photos: Stephan Baumann, http://bild-raum.com, Copyright: Courtesy the artist, photos: Stephan Baumann, http://bild-raum.com
Paul Kolling. Westbound-190621 (panel 1, 3 and 5), Courtesy the artist, photos: Stephan Baumann, http://bild-raum.com, Copyright: Courtesy the artist, photos: Stephan Baumann, http://bild-raum.com

 

 

Left: James Bridle, Aegina Battery, 2022, 72 Lemons, Electrical Connectors, Zinc Nails, Copper Wire, Fixings, Wood, LED Light, 40 X 40 X 130 cm, Photo: Billie Clarken, Courtesy the Artist and NOME, Berlin, Copyright: Photo: Billie Clarken, Courtesy the Artist and NOME, BerlinRightL Andrea Bowers, Femme Trans-corporeal Fantasy (Entities), 2023, Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Brica Wilcox, Copyright: Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Brica Wilcox
Left: James Bridle, Aegina Battery, 2022, 72 Lemons, Electrical Connectors, Zinc Nails, Copper Wire, Fixings, Wood, LED Light, 40 X 40 X 130 cm, Photo: Billie Clarken, Courtesy the Artist and NOME, Berlin, Copyright: Photo: Billie Clarken, Courtesy the Artist and NOME, Berlin
RightL Andrea Bowers, Femme Trans-corporeal Fantasy (Entities), 2023, Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Brica Wilcox, Copyright: Courtesy of the Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, Photo: Brica Wilcox